Royal Mail share price: CEO Moya Greene receives pay hike

Royal Mail’s (LON:RMG) chief executive, Moya Greene, saw her pay increase by 13 percent to £1.52 million in the last financial year as her basic salary increased for the first time since she joined the UK postal services firm in 2010.

The disclosure made in Royal Mail’s annual report on Friday is likely to spark anger among employees after the company cut 5,500 jobs in the year to the end of March, resulting in a saving of one percent from total operating costs. Labour union, Unite, has criticised the company for putting profits before staff and serving Britain. The government, which holds a 30 percent stake in the company, is also sensitive towards any major increases in remuneration packages at Royal Mail, particularly as it has in the past faced criticism that the business was undervalued by the state prior to its floatation.
Defending Greene’s pay rise, Orna Ni-Chionna, who chairs the postal group’s remuneration committee, said: “In our view, her role has expanded substantially in complexity since 2010 and in particular since we became a public company. Even after this increase, her salary and potential pay remains well below typical levels in companies of comparable size and complexity.” Donald Brydon, Royal Mail’s outgoing chairman, had previously revealed that Greene was the worst-paid chief executive in the FTSE 100 and that Royal Mail must improve her remuneration package or risk losing her.
The news came a week after Royal Mail said annual profits had risen by six percent on an underlying basis to £740 million as further cost cutting succeeded in offsetting a lower than expected performance from its parcels business.
As of 19:30 BST, Monday, 01 June, Royal Mail share price is 525.00p.